Health Insurance in the News

Health Care: Benefits Surprise
Group coverage too pricey? Individual policies are better than you think

Bryan Barnall has long prided himself on providing health insurance for the four employees of Printing Plus, his Lincoln (Neb.) commercial printer. Then his carrier upped his premiums by 50% two years in a row, and Barnall had to dump his group plan. But he didn't leave his employees in the lurch.

Barnall's workers now buy individual policies through his agent. Each pays $50 a month toward premiums; Barnall pays the rest and gives each employee $75 a month to put into a health savings account (HSA). Barnall deducts his entire outlay from his taxes. And he has cut the annual health-care costs for his $350,000 company in half, to about $12,000. "The change initially made my employees a bit nervous, but they're all happy now," says Barnall.

Despite a Slip in HMO Enrollments, Florida Remains an Attractive Healthcare Market, According the HealthLeaders-InterStudy

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of managed care industry intelligence, finds that despite a slip in HMO enrollment, new HMOs continue to enter the Florida market. According to the latest issue of Florida Health Plan Analysis from HealthLeaders-InterStudy, the line between traditional HMOs and newer PPO products is blurring, and some employers may well trend back to HMOs as the need to control costs continues.
"Florida is a big and varied healthcare market," said Jan Shuxteau, HealthLeaders-InterStudy analyst. "Insurers see it as fertile ground for growth. Aetna, for example, is re-entering market segments it had previously left, like Medicare." (read more...)

Few Florida employers offer new health plans
Harry Wessel and Jack Snyder | Sentinel Staff Writers

Consumer-driven health plans, while less common in Florida than elsewhere, are "gaining traction every day" in the Sunshine State, said Craig Drablos, chief executive of one of the state's largest health insurers, Humana Florida.

Of the 350,000 Florida workers covered by Humana health-insurance plans, between 30,000 and 35,000 are enrolled in consumer-driven plans, Drablos estimated last week.

"I think this is the future," Drablos said. "If you give consumers the [informational] tools to spend their health dollars, they'll do the right thing." (read more...)

Floridians Moving from HMOs to PPOs, Cost May Reverse Trend
Florida's senior citizens see 18 companies offering 43 drug plans

Oct. 24, 2005 – A study of the Florida market – often a good indicator of the senior citizen market in the U.S. – shows HMO enrollment has slipped as the line blurs between HMOs and PPOs. But, more HMOs are entering the state and the HealthLeaders-InterStudy suggests the swing by employers may return to HMOs as pressure increases to control costs.
The survey also found eighteen different companies are offering 43 different Medicare prescription drug plans to Florida’s senior citizens. (read more...)

State health-care program continues to provide for fewer kids
By Kathleen Chapman

The number of working families covered by Florida's low-cost health insurance program continued to drop this summer, despite a new law that makes it easier to sign up.

About 228,800 children are now enrolled in KidCare programs, which help parents who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but who don't have private health insurance. That number is down from 229,700 in June, when the state repealed restrictions that limited the enrollment period to two months of the year. (read more...)

Department of the Treasury

Detailed health savings account - HSA - information from the Department of the Treasury's Office of Public Affairs.

• Health Savings Account - HSA - brochure from the Department of the Treasury.
• Health Savings Account - HSA - HSA basics.
• HSA Frequently Asked Questions.
• HSA Statute

IRS (Department of Treasury Clarification).

"Health Savings Accounts - The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 created a new, tax-advantaged way for certain people to save for health care expenses. You must be covered by a high-deductible health plan to open and contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA). IRS and Treasury have provided guidance on how HSAs work." (read more...)

Council for Affordable Health Insurance

The Council for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI) is a research and advocacy association of insurance carriers active in the individual, small group, MSA and senior markets.

Wall Street Journal

Health and Taxes
By Martin Feldstein

"The Health Savings Accounts that President Bush recently signed into law may well be the most important piece of legislation of 2003. These new tax and medical insurance rules have the potential to transform health-care finances, bringing costs under control and making health care reflect what patients and their doctors really want. It is remarkable that this legislation has received so little public attention..." (read more...) 

Fortune

Stay Healthy, Get Wealthy
The new health savings accounts are especially attractive to entrepreneurs.
By Jeanne Lee

"Small-business owners have often felt like second-class citizens when it comes to their own health insurance. With U.S. premiums up 13.9% last year, a common strategy for entrepreneurs is to buy "catastrophic" insurance, which covers big expenses but leaves you on the hook for routine doctor visits and drugs until a high deductible is met and the coverage kicks in. But with the recent introduction of health savings accounts (HSAs), help is here..." (read more...) 

Kiplinger

Switching to Health Savings Accounts
By Kimberly Lankford

"I have a medical savings account and I want to switch to the new health savings account. When and how can I do that? Don't worry about making the switch, for most MSA participants it should happen automatically. But keep your eyes open. Many new providers are expected to jump into the market, so you might find better services..." (read more...)

Washington Times

New health savings accounts help pay soaring medical costs

"As medical-insurance premiums skyrocket, more companies are looking for ways to pass on costs to their workers. At the same time, self-employed people and other individuals who don't have corporate plans are seeking health care policies that are affordable..." (read more...)

USA Today

Health savings can be tax shelter
By Thomas A. Fogarty, USA TODAY

"A potentially lucrative tax shelter becomes available to the masses next month, courtesy of the Medicare act Congress just passed.

In IRA-like fashion, investors soon can build tax-sheltered nest eggs to cover out-of-pocket medical costs. Called a Health Savings Account, the new investment vehicle permits a taxpayer, starting in 2004, to shelter up to $4,500 annually..." (read more...)

Consumers have trouble finding health savings accounts
By Julie Appleby, USA TODAY

"Health savings accounts — touted by the president in his State of the Union address — became available Jan. 1, but consumers are learning that it may take some effort to find one.

While proponents say the accounts will help usher in a new era of consumerism in health care, only a few insurers are offering them and the Treasury Department has not finished issuing rules regarding them..." (read more...)

Managed Care Magazine

Movement Toward Individual Health Benefit Accounts
By Robert A. Connor
Department of Healthcare Management, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota

• Do Insurance Constraints Benefit Consumers? This section provides the conceptual background for the historical shift of employer-based health insurance to managed care. It is vital for understanding the present transition to defined contribution benefits and individual health benefit accounts.
• The Evolution of Employer-Based Health Insurance traces the evolution of the level at which insurance is purchased, from individuals to groups to group-individual hybrids.
• Individual Health Benefit Accounts: Types, Pros, and Cons highlights different types of individual health benefit accounts, their pros and cons, and ways to optimize their good effects while minimizing the bad... (read more...)

Physician’s News Digest

Forgotten benefits of medical savings accounts
By T. Michael Regan, CPA

"The Health Insurance Affordability and Accountability Act became law in 1996. At that time a much-discussed provision of the act was one that allowed certain small businesses to establish Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) between 1997 and the year 2000.

What are the benefits of MSAs? First and most obvious is the tax deduction derived from the contribution to the savings account. Then, the funds in the account grow tax-free. Money from the account may be used to pay for a variety of qualified health services in addition to the procedures covered by standard health care policies. Eyeglasses, dental care and long-term care insurance are good examples. Unused funds are carried over from year to year..." (read more...)

MSN - Money Central

A tax-free way to stay healthy and wealthy
By Jeff Schnepper

"Tax-deductible going in, no tax when you take it out. You can’t get a much better deal on any savings account than that.

I’m talking about the Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) that were created last year as part of the Medicare Act of 2003.

The concept is easy. Congress wants to give you the opportunity to take charge of your own health costs. So, if you buy their special ticket, you’ll be able to set up a magical account. You’ll be able to put money into that account and deduct the contribution. You pay no taxes while the money is held in the account. And, if you take the dollars out for the right reasons, there’s no tax ever..." (read more...)

Chicago Sun-Times

Health Savings Accounts great plan for health care
By Terry Savage Sun-Times Columnist

"The Health Savings Account was hidden away in the prescription drug bill passed by Congress last December. But unlike the seriously flawed drug plan, the Health Savings Account is an exciting concept that could make health insurance available -- affordable -- for millions of Americans who aren't covered by an employer plan.

It's a concept so new that the insurance industry is just gearing up to make it available. Health Savings Accounts combine inexpensive, high-deductible health insurance plans with a tax-advantaged savings account. "Tax-advantaged" is a new phrase, appropriate because this new account has so many different tax benefits..." (read more...)

WGN Channel 9 Chicago

Ilyce Glink: Health Savings Accounts
By Ilyce Glink

"Although some of the new Medicare Act President Bush signed last year won't go into effect until 2006, parts of it went into effect on January 1. You can take advantage of tax-free health savings accounts starting right now.

The new tax-free health savings accounts will correct a major distortion in the law and should provide both employees and those running their own businesses with a way to pay for health care with tax free dollars..." (read more...)

Financial Services Journal

The Health Savings Account (HSA) The Dawning of Expanded Health Care
By Paul M. League

"President George W. Bush signed into law the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 on December 8, 2003. Tucked along with it comes the January 2004 enactment of the Health Savings Account ("HSA"), created for persons prior to reaching Medicare age, typically age 65, and created to help one save to meet medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis..." (read more...)